Improvement in boot and shoe soles



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN OHILOOTT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMNT IN BOOT AND SHOE SOLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 47,930, dated May 30, 1865; antcdated MaylQ, 1565. i

.T 0 all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, J o HN CHILoorT, of No. 70 Fulton street, in the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State oi' New York, have invented a new and Improved Sole for Boots and Shoes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, vand eXact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speciiication, in which- Figures 1 and 2 are face views of a sole, Fig. 2 representing a part of it torn away to expose its construction. Fig. 3 isa transverse section of the same in an unfinished state. Fig. 4s is a transverse section of the same in a finished state.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several gures.

The value of india-rubber and gutta-percha for the outer soles of boots and shoes is universally acknowledged. They are not only water-proof, but their wearing quality, especially that of india-rubber, is far superior to that of leather; yet, owing to the want of some convenient and strong method of attachment, their use for this purpose has been very limited.

The object of this invention is to provide for the better application of these materials t'o the above-mentioned purpose; and to this end it consists in the manufacture of what maybe termed a compound sole,77 consisting of a sole of leather and an outer sole of india-rubber or gutta-percha, unit-ed by sewing or otherwise in such a manner that the stitches or other means of attachment are protected by a portion of the outer sole, and the inner or leather sole, being so much larger than the outer one as to leave a projecting margin of leather all round, by which to make the attachment to the boot or shoe by sewing7 pegging, nailing, riveting, screwing, or Aother suitable means.

To enable othersV skilled inthe art to make and apply my invention, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

A is the inner sole, of leather, and B the onter sole, of india-rubber or gutta-percha. The

inner sole is of the full width and length required for the ordinary sole or half-sole ofthe boot or shoe to which it is to be applied, and the outer one so much shorter and narrower as to leave the margin a of the inner one projecting all around for the purpose of attaching the compound sole to the boot or shoe. The outer sole, B, is split all around its edge, as shown at b in Figs. 3 and 4, to a suitable distance to allow it, when the outer portion, C, is turned back, as shown in Fig. 3, to be secured to the inner sole, A, by one or more rows of stitches, e e, or by rivets or other devices passing through the inner portion, d, before the inner sole is attached to the boot or shoe; but I believe the best inode of attachment to be by sewing in a sewing-machine. When the outer and inner soles are thus at tached together, the portion c is closed, as shown in Fig. 4, and secured by a solution of india-rubber or gutta-percha or other suitable cement, and thus made to protect the stitches or other other means of attachment.

My improved sole thus constructed may be attached to the welt or upper of a boot or shoe, in the same manner as an ordinary sole, by sewing, pegging, or other suitable means of attachment, or may be attached to the sole of a new-finished or partly-worn out boot or'shoe by4 nailing, screwing, pegging, or other means of attachment, such means of attachment being always applied through the projecting marginal portion a of the inner sole of leather. The inner sole, A, may be of the whole length of the boot or shoe; but it is only necessary to make the outer sole, B, of the usual length of what is termed the fhalf77 or frontisole The inner sole, however, may usually be made only ofthe length of what is termed the front or half sole.

This sole attached to the boot or shoe as described is much more iirmly secured than a simple outer sole of indiarubber attached to the ordinary leather sole by cement, as cem-` ent, which will adhere iirmly to india-rubber or gutta-percha, seldom adheres firmly to leather. It is much simpler than the compound sole which is the subject of Letters Patent granted to myself and Robert Snell, dated September 13, 1853, as it requires to be com* posed of but two pieces, while that is composed of three or more.

Instead of the india-rubber or gutta-percha sole being made of one thickness and split at the edges, it may be made of two thicknesses, one of which is sewed to the leather inner sole and the other cemented on over the sewing,

as, although it is difcnlt to unite india-rub ber or gutta-percha securely with leather by cement, two pieces of india-rubber or guttapercha may be cemented together so iirmly as to be almost solid. I prefer to use in the manufacture of these soles india-rubber goods such as are commonly used for machine-belting and steam-packing, consisting of a sheet or layer of woven fabric saturated and thickly coated with india-rubber, or of two or more sheets or layers of such fabric united by an interposed layer of india-rubber and coated with the same material. rlhcse goods are far superior to india-rubber alone, as the stitching e e, by passing through the woven fabric, will have much better hold than it would-in rubber alone. VIn

"elifting` these goods, as shown at b in the drawings, care must be taken to have the woven fabric, or one thickness of it, come between the split and the face which is to be united with the leather A, so that the stitches may pass through the said fabric.

Having thuspdescribed my invention, I claim as a new article of manufacture- A compound sole composed of an inn er sole, 

